Dr. J. Douglas Dale, professor emeritus in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has been honored with an ASTM International Award of Merit and the title of fellow. The Award of Merit is ASTM’s highest society award granted to an individual member for distinguished service and outstanding participation in ASTM committee activities. 

Dale received the Award of Merit in recognition of his exceptional leadership and significant contributions in the development of standards for ASTM Committee F23 on Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment, especially in the areas of flame-resistant protective clothing test methods, thermal sensors, human tissue burn injury modeling, hot liquid and steam hazards, and clothing flammability.  He has been a member of ASTM International since 1993, and currently serves as member at large on Committee F23.  The committee has honored him with two F23 Service Awards, in 2007 and 2008.

A graduate of the University of Washington, Seattle, Wash., where he received a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, Dale also holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc., both in mechanical engineering, from the University of Alberta. He joined the faculty at his alma mater in 1969 as an assistant professor. He became associate professor in 1972, professor in 1980 and professor emeritus in 2003. He also served as chair of the department of mechanical engineering from 1990-1994 and 2000-2002, and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Melbourne in Australia, the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and the University of California, Berkeley. He has conducted research in the areas of heat transfer, ignition, combustion, energy conservation in housing, improving protective clothing and equipment for fire hazards and high-pressure steam, and full-scale mannequin testing of industrial work clothing in flash fire testing. 

Outside ASTM International, Dale’s is a member of ASME International; SAE International; the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta; the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers; the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering; the Combustion Institute; and the National Fire Protection Association.

Dale has authored more than 200 technical publications and has delivered presentations and keynote addresses at various locations across nine countries, including Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Imperial College in London; University of Stuttgart in Germany; Universita Di Pisa in Italy; the University of Auckland in New Zealand; the Vienna University of Technology in Austria; and the Tokyo University of Science, the National Research Institute for Fire and Disaster, and Hokkaido University in Japan.

ASTM PR Contact: Erin K. Brennan, Phone: 610-832-9602; ebrennan@astm.org

Release #8876